Faucet attachment.



J. W. SHEPHARD & F. A. JONES.

FAUCET ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION IILEI) MAR.12, 1912.

1,058,637. Patented pr. 8; 1913.

' f MWA M/ COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH COHWASIHINUTON. D- C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN WELLS SHEPHARJ) AND FREDERICK AUGUSTUS JONES, OF WAGGA WAGGA, SOUTHWALES, AUSTRALIA.

FAUGET ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 8, 1913.

Application filed March 12, 1912. Serial No. 683,388.

To all whom it may concern:

HARD and FREDERICK AUGUSTUS JoNns, subjects of the King of Great Britainand Ireland, &c., residing at Wagga VVagga, in the State of New SouthVales, Commonwealth of Australia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in or Attachable to Taps or Cocks; and we do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable othlers skilled' in the art to which itappert-ains to make and use the same.

Authorities having become alert as to the danger of milk, and of water,becoming unintentionally contaminated before reach ing the consumer, wehave given attention to tap construction, and thus have made thisinvention, which comprises improvements in or attachable to taps orcocks having external spout or nozzle guards or protectors to keep awaydust and dirt, to prevent persons handling, or articles touching,thespout, and so on. Street and domestic water taps, and milk cart tapsare some of those which are particularly liable to be fouled.

Our construction provides nozzle inclosing members or shields, connectedto and operated from the upper part of the tap, so that where a tap plughas a hollow base as the outlet for liquid, this invention isapplicable, though it is not restricted to hollow plug taps. We providemovabl'e protective casing members or shields having supports on the tapbody'; each member will be opened by operating the tap handle to openthe valve, and closed by a reverse action. The word door will be usedhereinafter for brevity to indicate each such movable protecting memberor shield, though these will in shape and detail vary according to thetap or the fancy of the maker. They will ordinarily be chambered orrecessed to the better inclose the nozzle. One door alone may serve toshut in a nozzle, providing it be closed against a stationary backing toproduce an inclosing chamber, but it is so frequently advantageous touse two doors, which will simultaneously open or close, that the latterconstruction is described hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show respectively a side and a front elevation partlysectional, of a tap of simple form and few parts, which can be easilytaken to pieces and cleaned. In Fig. 2 one door is shown open. Fig. 3 isa plan of the tap in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows a sectional front elevation ofa tap having a lift valve, or one operated by a screw plug as usedmostly where there is a high pressure water supply. The nozzle i showncurved, but in the other figures it is shown as straight. Figs. 5 and 6illustrate in side and front elevation, oartly sectional, parts of a taphaving a lift valve, the plug being raised as by leverage, its closingoccurring as by spring pressure. In Fig. 5 dotted lines show the tapplug and handle in the raised position of the plug.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings 1 is a tap body or casing inclosinga valve 2 which is hollow, and will be opened and closed by rotating aplug 4, which may have a detachable or a fixed handle. 13 is part of thetap body, having a passage to the valve. Any suitable platform, orflange 3 is attached to the tap body so as to form a stationary part, asthe top, of the nozzle inclosing chamber which will be formed when thedoors are shut. The doors marked 6, 6? and meeting at 6", are hinged toor movable on supports, as pins or spindles 7 connected to the tap bodyor the platform 3.

Detachably or otherwise attached to the plug is door actuating means, aa plate 10. We may form it with a slot 5 and collar 5 having aperturedlugs 12 and tightening screw 11, so that the collar will grip the plug.From each door 6, 6 a projection or horn 9 or 9 extends normally upwardand projects through suitably shaped slots in plate 10. The oppositesides of these slots 'which are shown curved and angular, are

markedS, 8 and when plug 4 with plate 10 is rotated, to open the valveas per arrow in Fig. 3, the slot sides 8 will press the tops of thehorns and by tilting the horns will swing the doors open. There may be alug 10 on plate 10 to meet a stop 14 on body 18 to limit the rotation ofthe said plate but the usual plug has already a suflicient stop. Thesaid door opening action might carry the slots clear of the horn tops(see the left side of Fig. 2 which shows a horn no longer in a slot) butin that case, the horn top will again enter the slot when the motion ofthe plug is reversed, whereupon the doors not only tend to close bygravity but the slot sides 8 will by pressure on the horn tops restorethe horns to normal positions, and so force the doors to close. Inpractice the slots and horns will be shaped and tested so as to worksatisfactorily.

The small removable ring on the nozzle in Fig. 1 is not claimed. It ismerely a means of holding the nozzle down. IVhen a door is open as inFig. 2 it cannot close until the plate is turned when the valve isclosed because plate 10 does not allow room for horn 9 to swing upward.With the screw plug of Fig. 4 plate 10 will according to the turning oftap handle 15 after its level and We find it advisable to add springs as16 which keep the doors open so long as plate 10 is raised. The lattermay then be raised clear of the horns leaving the springs to hold thedoors open and also keep the horn tops in their horizontal or equivalentpositions, but the plate will on being lowered, again take the horn topsinto its slots and so force the doors to close over the nozzle 2.

In Figs. 5 and 6, the plug stem et with valve 4* depressed by spring 4is to be lifted as by a lever handle 15?, supported by an arm or bracket4 having a fulcrum for the said handle -and P is a fixed trigger orfinger hold projecting from the tap body. None of these parts arehowever claimed herein as novel.

The doors have pivots 7 or suitable connections to horns 9 9, which maybe integral with a transverse head 9 and the latter is connected to thetap plug, as by being engaged by a hooked top l of the plug. Then as theplug is raised the doors will be swung open on their hinges 7 or thelike. And when the plug descends, horns 9 9 will close the doors, orallow them to close. The construction is so arranged that a suflicientopening of the doors occurs before the opening of the valve, and asufficient closing of the valve before the closing of the doors toprevent inconvenience to users, in all the forms of tap to which theinvention is applied.

In Fig. 2 a recess is shown in dotted lines in the door 6 for closelyfitting the tubular cap body 13.

An advantage of the movable collar 5, is that it may allow plug plate 10to be adjusted, so as to more readily position the Copies of this patentmay be obtained for slots which the horns are to engage. Distinctmembers, each to operate a horn, may take the place of a plate 10.

What we claim by United States Letters Patent is 1. In atap protector,doors pivotally supported on the tap at a point above the nozzle andadapted to swing downwardly by gravity to comprise a nozzle-inclosingchamber, and means actuated by the tap for opening and closing saiddoors upon opening and closing of the tap.

2. In a tap protector, a nozzle-inclosing chamber comprising a plateabove the nozzle, and doors movably attached to said plate adapted to beopened against gravity to free the nozzle.

3. In a tap protector, a nozzle-inclosing chamber comprising a plateabove the nozzle, doors movably attached to said plate adapted to beopened against gravity to free the nozzle, and means actuated by the tapfor opening and closing said doors upon the opening and closing of thetap.

4. In a tap protector, a nozzle-inclosing chamber comprising a plateabove the nozzle, doors movably attached to said plate adapted to beopened against gravity to tree the nozzle, and means adjustably securedto the tap for opening and closing said doors upon opening and closingof the tap.

5. In a tap protector, a nozzle-inclosing chamber comprising a plateabove the nozzle, doors movably attached to said plate adapted to beopened to free the nozzle, projections on said doors, and means securedto the tap for engaging said projections to open and close said doors.

6. In a tap protector, a nozzle-inclosing chamber comprising a plateabove the nozzle,

doors adapted to be opened to free the nozzle, projections on saiddoors, means secured to the tap for engaging said projections to openand close said doors, and springs for yieldingly maintaining said doorsin open position whenthe said means are disengaged from saidprojections.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses,

JOHN WELLS SllElllAltl). FREDERlCK AUGUSTUS JONES. W'itnesses BEATRICEM. Lowe, EDlTI-I L. DICKSON.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of latents,

' Washington, D. G.

